Rith'nak
Population: 40,000 Hobgoblins Founding Date: 15 A.F. Major Religion: Maglubiyet, Goblinoid God of War and Conquest Minor Religions: Orcus, Demon Prince The home valley of the Hobgoblin people, this fortified area was where the Hobgoblin race weathered the Fall and where they quickly rebuilt. A people built on discipline, honor, and war the already militarized and indoctrinated race turned around quickly and began rebuilding the glory that they had lost. Local Dungeons: Frozen Caverns of Gr'guth, Temple of the Heathen Bastard Recovery from the Fall Rith'tik is a fortified fortress valley. Originally, every crevice, cliff, and tunnel was a portion of the larger fortress. An example of perfectly engineered static defense, the Fall tore it to pieces and left them with two forts remaining: Rith'yet and Rith'tor. Rith'yet is the major fortress to in the center of the valley. Rith'tor is the southern bastion. The Hobgoblin leaders quickly rallied their people. Their soldiers, still scattered and reeling from the psychic storm that sat over the valley, were slow to react to the commands and days passed before the two fortresses reconnected. When they did, the commanders in charge assumed all other life to be dead or gone. Their primary objective was restoring their people's way of life Though it helped solidify the recovery, many races soon wandered into Rith'tik, looking for any sort of aid. Slaves and vagrants from the Giant kingdoms, humans, Orcs, Goblins, and even Dragons appeared looking for answers to what had happened. They were met by an armed host. The Hobgoblin were ready to discuss peacefully with anything that came to its doorstep, but they were certainly not kind hosts. Faith Returns and Armed Expansion By 120 A.F., when civilization was beginning to find its feet in other lands, the Rith'tik had been operational for a century. However, this felt like merely surviving to the Hobgoblin people. They farmed, they fought, they starved, and they rebuilt. All of this just to scrape by and prove themselves to the rest of the world. Chorklar, Grand Marshall of Rith'tik at the time, was a cruel tyrant who saw his people as numbers, not citizens to protect. The people's true love was the Leader of Faith Glariyet, a religious figure in a time without gods. Maglubiyet had not answered their prayers in over a century and many despaired. Anger had begun to rise amongst the people. Hobgoblins are known for their loyalty and discipline, so these rumblings of rebellion were hilarious to Chorklar. They were still jokes up until the moment when Glariyet declared that he had a vision from the spirit of Maglubiyet. It was the will of their god that this dictator should step down and place faith back in the hands of the Council of Generals, how it had been in the days before. Whether there was actually a vision or not is up for debate. With the illusion of divine edict, it was enough to force a mass revolt against the Grand Marshall. An oligarchy of generals was put into place. More imporantly, Glariyet's divine revelation/publicity stunt also hit the vein of religosity that had been missing for centuries, even before the Fall. The Hobgoblin people were scared, hungry, and uncertain about the future. The embrace of their racial deity, the champion of their race. What became known as the Divine Revolt led to a wave of desire to expand and prove their worth as a people to the "other races". Scouting missions had determined there were still kingdoms in all directions. In particular, the human kingdom of Isilsolar had completely shaken off the effect of the Fall and was now stronger with a celestial leader of some sort. They determined the easiest target to strike would be the southern human kingdom of Ganzorig and the northern barbarian tribe of the Selendi. These wars were waged on the backs of Orcish slaves, tricked into service from Goroth'caul. The resiliency of both human kingdoms surprised the Hobgoblins. Small gains were made, mostly the territory closest the the valley of Rith'tik. By 189 A.F. though, the Orc slave armies they used had grown weary of the yoke of servitude. An uprising killed 50 Hobgoblins sent to enslave another band of Orcs for war. When an armed host arrived at Goroth'caul to put down what was seen as a rebellion, they found an army of angry creatures, larger than them and far more numerous. Their superior tactics and equipment would have determined the battle had the terrain been advantageous. However, a sheer plain with howling winds and no covered gave them nothing with which to fight. Hubris led them into the valley and defeat chased them out. The Middle Years Over the centuries, the Hobgoblin territory stayed around what it had been at the end of their expansionist wars. The Orc hordes went to war for a dragon, the human expanded, Goblins infested every nook and cranny that had space in it, and the Hobgoblins sat in their fortified valley, content to weather the storm. One opponent/ally that the Hobgoblins faced often were the remainders of the Dwarven Empires. A broken people, early armed encounters were traded out for pleas of peace and treaties involving ore trading to keep the Hobgoblins from exploring further into their tunnels. By 321 A.F., the treaties were not renewed. The Hobgoblins could not find a Dwarven King or Taskmaster who would bring them up. They found themselves as one of the few lords of the mountain tunnels now the the Dwarves had vanished. They maintained minor communications with the western kingdom of Dwarves, but this was merely a formality. The Mongrel Empire Rises By the year 500 A.F., the Hobgoblins had sat for nearly 300 years. They watched the other races burn away, fighting in petty wars or against ethereal powers they could not hope to defeat. The Orcs were calming from their period of unrestrained anarchy and rumor was that the Orcs may soon create an empire for Orcs and only Orcs. Rith'tik had learned what Orcs were capable of. United for the purpose of their own people, there was no telling what they were capable of. They reached out to Goblins, Orcs, the Orog slaves still under their Giant masters, Trolls of the Fellbog, and Ogres to create an empire that they were atop of. They saw the rise of men in the south and had heard legends that the Elves survived the Fall. They foresaw an empire that would challenge the "higher races" for their place at the head of the table. This Mongrel Empire is made of a loose confederation that spans scross the entirety of the Western Mountains. For once in its history, the mountains are calm and united in their hatred for the "Southern Men". There are still struggles against dragons in their holes, rogue Orc tribes, the Selendi (somehow still alive and kicking after 600 years of beating back threat after threat), and the last Giant Kingdom, led by the aging Grandmaster Grore'kin. Though they fight against all, they still see the use of peace. They have created a "diplomatic" wing of explorers and adventurers. Their express purpose is to travel the lands and share their culture, language, and heritage with all who do not know the "Mongrel Way". Rith'tik sees the future as very bright for their people. Their armies are great, their enemies are weak, and all that remains is the proper time to bring the might of their armies smashing down on those too feeble to survive in their world.